Zelaya gets support abroad; new government alleges cocaine link

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From left to right, Bolivia President Evo Morales, ousted Honduras President Manuel Zelaya, Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez and Ecuador President Rafael Correa pose on Monday in Managua, Nicaragua.

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduras’ ousted president won overwhelming international support Tuesday as he planned a high-profile return to his chaotic country. The politicians who sent soldiers to shoot up his residence and fly him into exile in his pajamas said he will be arrested for treason if he tries.

The showdown was building to a climax as international leaders signed on to accompany President Manuel Zelaya on a flight to Honduras on Thursday. Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubi said Zelaya would be seized "as soon as he sets foot on Honduran soil" and face 20 years in prison on charges that also include abuse of authority.

"I'm going back to calm people down. I'm going to try to open a dialogue and put things in order," Zelaya said at the United Nations. "When I'm back, people are going to say ... `commander, we're at your service' and the army will have to correct itself. There's no other possibility."

The U.N. General Assembly voted by acclamation to demand Zelaya's immediate restoration, and the Organization of American States was meeting to consider suspending Honduras for straying from democracy.

With no international support but a significant following at home, the new Honduran leadership called thousands of flag-waving people into the streets. Soldiers fenced off the area around the presidential palace, where security forces used tear gas and water cannons Monday against Zelaya supporters, injuring and arresting dozens.

The interim president named by Congress, Roberto Micheletti, said Zelaya could be arrested for violating the constitution if he returns. He also said he would not resign no matter how intense the international pressure on Honduras becomes.

"No. I was appointed by Congress, which represents the Honduran people. Nobody can make me resign unless I break the laws of the country," Micheletti said in an interview with The Associated Press at the presidential palace.

'I'm going to serve my four years'Zelaya — whose elected term ends in 2010 — had defied the Supreme Court and called a referendum on constitutional change that opponents worried would lead to Zelaya prolonging his presidency.

Zelaya backed down from the referendum on Tuesday, saying at the United Nations that he would no longer push for the constitutional changes he had wanted.

"I'm not going to hold a constitutional assembly," he said. "And if I'm offered the chance to stay in power, I won't. I'm going to serve my four years."

He said he would then go back to being a farmer — a humble description considering the wealth he has accumulated in ranching and agribusiness.

"I come from the countryside and I'm going to go back to the countryside," he said.

But Micheletti told AP that Zelaya had already violated Honduran law and it was too late for him to avoid arrest if he returns to Honduras.

Micheletti also said he was worried about the possibility of invasion from other Latin American countries, although he did not say which ones.

But earlier Tuesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Zelaya's top ally, said any aggression toward Zelaya from Micheletti's government should prompt a military intervention by the United Nations.

"We thank God for not letting democracy be interrupted in our country," Micheletti said earlier before a crowd of some 5,000 cheering supporters in white and blue, the colors of the Honduran flag. Flanked by soldiers in camouflage, he said: "The heroes of this democratic day are the soldiers."

Ties to drug traffickers?A pro-Zelaya crowd of about equal size marched toward the presidential palace, now protected by a chain-link fence and more than 500 soldiers and police. They dispersed as rain began to fall in the late afternoon with no reports of violence — a contrast with Monday when Zelaya said more than 150 were injured and 50 arrested. Micheletti's government didn't release figures.

International outcry
The United States stood firmly by Zelaya, however, with State Department spokesman Ian Kelly saying Washington sees no acceptable solution other than Zelaya's return to power. He said the United States is considering cutting off its aid to Honduras, which includes $215 million over four years from the U.S.-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Micheletti said he had no contact with any U.S. authorities since assuming the presidency.

The U.N. vote added to an avalanche of international denunciations of the military's removal of Zelaya on Sunday, which recalled the dark days of dictatorship for which Latin America was long notorious. The world body called on all 192 U.N. member states to recognize only Zelaya's government in Honduras.

The Organization of American States — whose Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza had agreed to accompany Zelaya back to Honduras — planned an emergency meeting in Washington hours later to reinforce the pressure to reinstate the Honduran leader.

Some members — such as Venezuela — want to suspend Honduras under an agreement meant to prevent military coups, while others — including Colombia — argue that while the OAS should condemn the coup, suspending Honduras would be interventionist.

Mexico and Colombia's conservative governments joined the region's leftist leaders in condemning Zelaya's removal. Blocked trucks began lining up along Honduras' borders as neighboring countries imposed a trade ban.

Freedom of expression
Some local television stations remained off the air and local media carried few reports of demonstrations in Zelaya's favor, apparently under government pressure. Ortez said freedom of expression was in full force but did not directly address the closure of stations or the temporary detention of journalists.

The U.S. military, which has close ties to Honduran commanders, tried to avoid getting caught up in the dispute. It ordered most of its 800 personnel to remain inside the Soto Cano air base, 60 miles north of Tegucigalpa, allowing only "mission-essential" tasks, Southern Command spokesman Jose Ruiz said in Miami.

Honduras receives about $1 million a year from the United States to fight drug trafficking and Soto Cano is a key base in the fight against drugs. There's also a contingent of DEA agents in country. U.S. and Honduran officials estimate about 100 tons of Colombian cocaine pass through Honduras annually on their way to the United States.

The de facto leader of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti, seen here, Oct. 29, agreed to a deal that is likely to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya.
(Yuri Cortez / AFP - Getty Images)
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Honduran soldiers arrive to the square where a military perimeter has been installed around the Brasilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa on Thursday, Sept. 24. Honduras' interim government on Thursday lifted a nationwide curfew but maintained a siege of the embassy where deposed President Zelaya has taken refuge.
(Yuri Cortez / AFP - Getty Images)
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Supporters of Honduras' interim President Roberto Micheletti shout during a demonstration in front of the local United Nations office in Tegucigalpa Sept. 24.
(Henry Romero / Reuters)
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Hordes of people fill the aisles of a supermarket to buy food during a break in the curfew imposed by the Honduran goverment in Tegucigalpa on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Hondurans scrambled through looted stores and lined up for food on during the break in a long curfew called to halt violence that erupted with the return of the country's deposed president.
(Ulises Rodríguez / EPA)
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A boy walks past burning garbage and a shopping cart from a looted supermarket used as part of a roadblock after riots in El Pedregal in Tegucigalpa on Wednesday.
(Oswaldo Rivas / Reuters)
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Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, center, meets with supporters, at the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, on Wednesday. Honduras' de facto leader Roberto Micheletti has offered for the first time to hold direct talks with Zelaya to resolve a political stand-off even as soldiers surrounded the embassy where he took refuge.
(Orlando Sierra / AFP - Getty Images)
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Members of the Honduran army are lined up in the surroundings of the Brazilian embassy in an effort to drive away supporters of deposed Honduran president in Tegucigalpa on Tuesday.
(Yuri Cortez / AFP - Getty Images)
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Police uses water canons against supporters of Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya during clashes near the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, Tuesday.
(Fernando Antonio / AP)
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Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya greets supporters at the Brazilian Embassy in capital Tegucigalpa on Sept. 21. Zelaya made a surprise return to the country almost three months after soldiers expelled him in a coup.
(Orlando Sierra / AFP - Getty Images)
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A Zelaya supporter shouts slogans against interim President Roberto Micheletti in front of a row of riot police during a demonstration in Honduras' capital Tegucigalpa on Sept. 18.
(Esteban Felix / AP)
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University students throw rocks at riot police at a roadblock at the National University in Tegucigalpa on Aug. 5.
(Arnulfo Franco / AP)
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Police fire tear gas during a protest by university students supporting ousted President Manuel Zelaya at the National University in Tegucigalpa on Sept. 16.
(Edgard Garrido / Reuters)
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Editor's note:
This image contains graphic content that some viewers may find disturbing.

Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, wife of the ousted president, reads Honduras' constitution to riot police blocking the crossing of Jacaliapa, west of the Nicaraguan border with Honduras, on July 27. Zelaya had set-up his roving government-in-exile in Nicaragua to launch a return to power after a coup in June.
(Ulises Rodriguez / EPA)
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Zelaya supporters push two plain-clothes police officers, right and second-from-left, during a funeral in Tegucigalpa on July 26. The ousted president's supporters identified and beat three plain-clothes policemen at the funeral of Pedro Magdiel Munoz before other Zelaya supporters intervened and guided the officials to safety. Enraged demonstrators then overturned and set on fire the patrol vehicle the policemen arrived in.
(Tomas Bravo / Reuters)
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Zelaya supporters try to overturn a car driven by a man whom they believe is an undercover police officer in El Durazno, Honduras, on July 26.
(Arnulfo Franco / AP)
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Villagers stand outside their house as riot police and soldiers stand guard at a roadblock preventing Zelaya supporters from approaching the border near El Arenal, Honduras, on July 25.
(Rodrigo Abd / AP)
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Ousted president Zelaya, right, lifts the chain that divides the border post of Las Manos, Nicaragua, with Honduras on July 24. Zelaya briefly stepped across the border in a symbolic move almost a month after soldiers sent him into exile.
(Mayerling Garcia / AFP - Getty Images)
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Zelaya, left, is welcomed by the President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias in San Jose, Costa Rica, where talks between the ousted president and the Interim Honduran President Roberto Micheletti were set to take place on July 9. President Arias tried to mediate the negotians, which were meant to end the political crisis that began after the coup that ousted Zelaya on June 28.
(Jeffrey Arguedas / EPA)
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Honduras' interim President Roberto Micheletti, left, waves as he walks with Costa Rica's Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno, second right, upon his arrival at Juan Santamaria Airport near San Jose, Costa Rica, on July 9.
(Kent Gilbert / AP)
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Rebeca Murillo grieves over the coffin of her brother, Isy Murillo, 19, in Tegucigalpa on July 6. Isy Murillo was shot to death on July 5 by troops protecting Honduras' main airport during clashes with Zelaya supporters.
(Rodrigo Abd / AP)
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Zelaya supporters clash with soldiers near Tegucigalpa's airport during a protest against the coup that ousted Honduras' president in June.
(Elmer Martinez / AFP - Getty Images)
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Zelaya talks with reporters outside of the Ecuadorean embassy in Washington, D.C., on July 5, after he announced plans to return to Honduras. Argentine President Cristina Ferdandez is at his left.
(Jose Luis Magana / AP)
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Interim Honduran President Roberto Micheletti addresses supporters during a meeting at the Presidential House in Tegucigalpa on July 3.
(Oswaldo Rivas / Reuters)
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Honduran police and soldiers prepare to charge Zelaya supporters who are being attacked with water-cannon and tear gas during a demonstration in San Pedro Sula on July 2.
(AFP - Getty Images)
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Zelaya supporters use an umbrella to catch donated funds during a protest near the presidential residence in Tegucigalpa on July 1
(Esteban Felix / AP)
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Zelaya, center, accepts a standing ovation during a meeting of the Organization of American States in Washington. The OAS, the United Nations, the Obama administration and other leaders have condemned the military coup that deposed Zelaya.
(Alex Brandon / AP)
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A soldier passes graffiti reading "Micheletti: You are not my president. The people," near the presidential palace in Tegucigalpa.
(Orlando Sierra / AFP - Getty Images)
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De facto leader of Honduras Roberto Micheletti, right, raises the hand of Gen. Romeo Vasquez, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on June 30. Zelaya had fired the general on June 25, but Micheletti reappointed him during a rally in Tegucigalpa.
(Str / AP)
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A demonstrator throws a Molotov cocktail during clashes between supporters of the ousted president and armed forces in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on June 29.
(Jose Cabezas / AFP - Getty Images)
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From left, Bolivian President Evo Morales, deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa pose for a photo after the final declaration of the Bolivarian Alternative of the Americas group, or ALBA, in Managua, on June 29. ALBA members condemned the coup in Honduras that deposed President Zelaya the day before and ordered the removal of all their ambassadors in Honduras.
(Arnulfo Franco / AP)
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Soldiers break into the presidential residency in Tegucigalpa on June 28. Soldiers arrested Zelaya and disarmed his security guards after surrounding his residence before dawn, about an hour before polls were to open for the non-binding referendum. Zelaya's referendum defied the courts and Congress, and his opponents said it was an attempt to remain in power after his term ends Jan. 27.
(Esteban Felix / AP)
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Zelaya supporters take cover during a shooting in the area around the presidential palace in Tegucigalpa on June 28. The Honduran Congress named speaker Roberto Micheletti as the country's new interim president following Zelaya's expulsion.
(Yuri Cortez / AFP - Getty Images)
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Manuel Zelaya gives a press conference at the Juan Santamaria International airport in San Jose, Costa Rica, on June 28. Zelaya said soldiers rousted him out of bed, beat his body guards and arrested him in his pajamas in what he described as "a coup" and "a kidnapping."
(Kent Gilbert / AP)
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Honduran President of National Congress Roberto Micheletti, center, takes the oath of office before assuming the position of acting president in Tegucigalpa on June 28.
(Edgard Garrido / Reuters)
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Zelaya supporters sing the national anthem outside the presidential residence in Tegucigalpa on June 29.
(Ooswaldo Rivas / Reuters)
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Soldiers and police officers gather at the Libertad square in front of the presidential residence in Tegucigalpa on June 29.
(Esteban Felix / AP)
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